Train hits bus in Pa.; 1 killed, 10 hurt

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EVANS CITY, Pa. — A freight train struck a rural transit bus carrying senior citizens and people with developmental disabilities Friday morning, killing an elderly woman and injuring nine other passengers and the driver, authorities said. At least one other injury was serious.

It appeared the small bus, carrying passengers ranging from mid-20s to 92, entered the crossing and stopped on the tracks, said Evans City police Chief Joseph McCombs. The engineer sounded a horn and tried to stop the train, but couldn’t. The bus came to rest about 20 feet away but did not overturn.

Police were investigating whether dense morning fog contributed to the crash, which happened shortly after 8 a.m. in Evans City, about 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. The railroad crossing has no gates.

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said that Claudette Miller, 91, of Callery, was pronounced dead Friday afternoon at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh.

Police said the Butler Area Rural Transit bus was on its way to a program known as Lifesteps.